7 August 1944

7 August 1944

A Marinegruppenkommando West monthly review described the July collapse of the German western flank: Cherbourg had fallen, the Allied breakthrough at St Lo had reached Avranches, and the Granville route to the Channel Islands had been lost. It treated the defence of St Malo and the remaining Breton ports as essential for delaying the enemy and preserving even limited contact with the islands.

The review concluded that shortages of escort vessels, fuel and transport, together with Allied command of the air and sea, had made sustained Channel Islands supply increasingly uncertain. Coastal artillery on the islands still contributed to sea defence, but the islands were becoming operationally isolated from the mainland command.

Roll 4009, PG 37597, scans 0146–0155.